Link to actual Killeen Daily Herald article

By Mason W. Canales
Killeen Daily Herald

Spc. Michael Hampton pulled into his driveway and was met by several large, brown boxes and a small crowd Monday night. Inside those boxes were the tools to help him accomplish his dream.

“Hey, Michael, I am Jeff, and this is Bernie (Teich) …,” Jeff Wells, Wish For Our Heroes foundation president, said to Hampton as he got out of his car using a cane. “We heard about your story and that you wanted to start your own business … so we wanted to buy you a couple of things.”

Hampton’s dream is to own his own garage, so he can work on cars. Wish For Our Heroes gave Hampton a tool box, an air compressor and a $1,000 gift card to Sears for more tools so he can accomplish that dream.

“That is crazy,” Hampton said, pausing. “Wow.”

“Wow,” he repeated to himself later.

Hampton, with Bravo Company, 27th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, was injured during combat in April in Iraq.

Hampton said he twisted his knee and dislodged his hip during a rocket attack. He then wore the other hip out walking around with the injury.

Hampton has had two surgeries, one in September and one in November. Doctors have told him he faces more surgeries and probably two years of physical therapy.

“I have the arthritis of a 90-year-old man,” Hampton told Wells and Teich after talking briefly about his injury.

The gift is “critical” to Hampton starting his own business, which he is hoping to operate out a of a new home in Belton by January. He couldn’t believe there was an organization such as Wish for Our Heroes.

The organization started in November and works to fulfill wishes no matter how small or large for the troops, Wells said.

The wishes have differed from moving families closer together to fixing up cars to putting food on the table, Wells said.

“There are not too many organizations like this,” said Teich, the organization’s spokesman.

The group’s goal is to create a program where people can see who their donations go to and that is continuously helping troops, Wells said.

“We are raising money on one side of the foundation, and we want that to go right back out,” Well said.

Hampton’s wife, Celest, and friends suggested Hampton’s wish to the foundation, hoping it could bring him closer to his dreams.

“I can’t describe his love for cars,” Celest said. “He come home and works on cars for hours.”

Hampton said he remembers being in the garage with his dad shortly after he learned to walk. He can’t exactly remember when he twisted his first wrench, but he can remember when he started to chase his dream.

“Since I was in high school I decided there were two things I wanted to do: to open a garage and to be in the infantry,” Hampton said.